ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Red Sox clinched a playoff berth on Saturday night, which would seem like a cause for celebration after finishing in last place for two consecutive years.
At worst, the Sox have a spot in the wild-card game after beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-4. Dustin Pedroia’s grand slam in the seventh inning was the difference.
If any of the players knew, they didn’t much seem to care. Even manager John Farrell claimed ignorance.
“I haven’t heard,” he said. “We’re here tomorrow playing again.”
Consider that proof that the Sox have far bigger goals in mind than playing one extra game in October. They’ll celebrate when there’s good reason to, such as clinching the American League East title.
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That should be soon. The Sox have won 10 consecutive games and lead the division by 5½ games with seven to play. The magic number to clinch is three.
At 91-64, the Sox have the second-best record in the AL, a game behind Texas.
The 10-game win streak is their longest since 2009 and their longest in September since 1949. The Sox are 18-5 going back to Aug. 31, with 12 of the victories coming on the road.
Pedroia delivered the latest win to cap an at-bat that started with him falling behind, 0 and 2, then collapsing in a heap after fouling a ball off his foot.
He bounced back up, worked the count to 2 and 2, and got a changeup from Danny Farquhar that stayed over the plate just enough to get to. Pedroia lined the ball into the stands in left field.
“You try and get our hands inside and I was lucky enough to hit it. That one stayed kind of middle,” Pedroia said. “I hit it on the barrel.”
Pedroia pumped his fist as he rounded first base. It was his 14th homer of the season and the fourth grand slam of his career, the second this season.
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Pedroia came into the game 2 of his last 29 and hitless in 15 consecutive at-bats. Two more outs followed before he singled in the sixth, then won the game in the seventh.
“They get paid a lot to get you out,” Pedroia said. “You have to show up every day and continue to work. You’re going to have patches in the year when you don’t get hits.”
As the very Red Sox-centric crowd of 25,641 at Tropicana Field cheered, Hanley Ramirez bear-hugged Pedroia when he returned to the dugout and spun him around.
“He could throw me around like a rag doll if he wanted. I was just hoping he didn’t toss me in the stands or something,” Pedroia said.
The slam made a winner of Rick Porcello, who allowed three runs on eight hits over 6⅓ innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts. He improved to 5-0 in six starts against the Rays this season.
“If a starting pitcher can keep us in the game, no [deficit] is really too big,” said Porcello. “We showed that tonight.”
At 22-4, Porcello is the first Red Sox pitcher to win 22 games since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez was 23-4 in 1999.
“That’s incredible to be mentioned in that sentence,” Porcello said.
Pedroia helped save a run in the second inning.
With the infield back and Corey Dickerson on third, Mikie Mahtook grounded to second. The Red Sox were conceding the out, but Pedroia fired to the plate and Dickerson was tagged out.
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“I saw him freeze on it. It’s a risky play but if you make it, it changes the momentum of the inning,” Pedroia said.
Porcello allowed three runs in the third inning. The Red Sox, down 3-1, got an RBI single from Ramirez in the fourth inning. The big seventh inning came against three relievers.
Ramirez and Brock Holt had singles off Ryan Garton. Jackie Bradley Jr. then drew a walk off lefty Dana Eveland. Facing Farquhar, Sandy Leon grounded into a force at the plate. But Pedroia did not miss.
“They are definitely the team to beat in my eyes,” Farquhar said. “They look really good.”
The Sox used five relievers to end the game. Craig Kimbrel picked up his 30th save despite allowing a solo home run by Logan Forsythe with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Mookie Betts was 1 for 3 with a walk and scored the first two runs.
Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.